Emergency travel can be covered

“If it was my Soldier or if I was the one (injured), I would want to know that my Family members are able to come and see me without worrying about them being financially strained.”

— Master Sgt. Kenneth Singleton

By Andrea Stone

Mountaineer staff

When a Soldier is injured stateside, can out-of-area Family members receive assistance to travel to his bedside? It’s a question that comes up in the Fort Carson Casualty Office on a regular basis, and the answer depends on several factors.

“If it’s a serious injury or illness or a very serious injury or illness, we can bring Families to the bedside of that Soldier as long as that Soldier is hospitalized,” said Zita Ephron, mortuary affairs coordinator.

The classification of the injury is decided on by the Patient Administration Division at Evans Army Community Hospital, which works with whatever civilian hospital the Soldier may be at to determine the extent of injuries or illness, she said.

“We’re not the ones that make the determination,” Ephron said.

For a Soldier who has a serious accident or injury, up to three Family members can be brought to his bedside.

“They’re authorized one round-trip ticket (each). They can travel back and forth, but we only pay for one round trip,” Ephron said. “They get per diem for the days they’re here. We will reimburse them for lodging.”

The assistance can only be received while the Soldier is in the hospital. As soon as the Soldier is released, the financial assistance ends.

“If the Soldier is released from the hospital into Family care, rehabilitation and such things as that, we stop our orders, but we will still (send) that Family back home whenever they’re ready to go back home,” she said.

The travel assistance is not offered for scheduled surgeries, though.

“We bring Family members out (if) something goes wrong in that surgery, but it has to be categorized serious injury or illness or very serious,” Ephron said.

Recently, she had a Soldier who was in her office because he’d had a serious surgery, and his commander told him the Army would pay for his mother to come out. Because it was a scheduled surgery, the travel wasn’t covered.

Many commanders may not be aware of the program or the details of the program.

“When I was a first sergeant, I wasn’t aware of any of this,” said Master Sgt. Kenneth Singleton, memorial affairs noncommissioned officer in charge. “If (you) have questions, call the Casualty Office, and we can walk (you) through the process. The program is out there.

It’s up to the leadership to educate themselves and the Soldiers so we can better assist them.”

It’s an important benefit that’s available to Families in a time of need.

“If it was my Soldier or if I was the one (injured), I would want to know that my Family members are able to come and see me without worrying about them being financially strained,” he said.

Travel can be authorized for overseas locations where the Soldier is stationed, such as South Korea, Japan and Europe, as well.

“In situations like that, there is a process that the Army has with the embassies where they can get expedited passports, and those costs are covered,” Ephron said.